Java and Scala Becoming More Alike

February 21, 2014

By Developer.com Staff

When Java 8 hits final release this March, it will have a lot more in common with Scala. ReadWrite's Matt Asay asked Scala creator Martin Odersky whether this change will hamper Scala adoption, but Odersky didn't think so.

People often ask me if these features coming to Java will slow the adoption of Scala," said Odersky. "Quite the opposite! Instead, I feel the acceptance of these features by the Java Community Process validates our innovation in language design on the JVM. As developers come to understand what these features are and how they work, they will also develop a better appreciation of the more extensive support of functional programming that Scala provides."

He added, "Java 8 will definitely bring the Java and Scala developer communities closer together. I also believe it will make life easier for polyglot language support on the JVM, while at the same time giving Java developers just a taste of how languages are evolving to support a higher degree of concurrency and parallelism."